The Massachusetts congressional delegation is upset that the U.S. Senate is moving to end the longest government shutdown in United States history, decrying the bill for failing to extend health care tax credits.
The Senate took the first step to end the shutdown on Sunday after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies, angering many in their caucus who say Americans want them to continue the fight.
“I’ll be voting hell no,” Rep. Jim McGovern said in a statement on X. “Accepting a pinky promise to maybe have a vote on lowering healthcare costs is not a compromise. It’s capitulation.”
The Senate passed the bill 60-40 in the first of many procedural votes to pass legislation that funds the federal government through the end of the calendar year. The bill does not include an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that motivated Democrats to vote against the bill 41 days ago, but does promise to vote on a one-year extension for the Affordable Care Act tax credits in December.
Five Democratic senators switched their votes Sunday night, but Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey were not among them.
Warren said in a statement that previous legislation allowed tax breaks for billionaires but this package would not provide a one-year extension on tax credits for health care that “cost less than Donald Trump’s $40 billion bailout for Argentina.”
“Donald Trump has made clear that he is willing to hurt people — hungry children, federal employees, working families — in order to get his way,” Warren said. “Democrats’ most important job is to fight back. We will keep fighting to fix our broken health care system and lower costs for working people, but a vote for this legislation is a mistake.”
If the legislation continues to pass through the Senate, it will head to the House of Representatives where, if it passes, the government would reopen as soon as Wednesday. Like McGovern, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, will vote against the measure if it comes up for a vote.
“Republicans were never going to act on lowering health care costs,” Neal said in a statement. “They sprinted to extend their tax giveaways to big corporations and billionaires, and now, when it comes to keeping health care affordable for millions, the Republican record of failure is all they have to offer. A principled deal was possible, but ignoring the reality of skyrocketing costs doesn’t earn my vote.”
In addition to the December vote, the compromise bill includes Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding through the end of the fiscal year 2026, a reversal of mass firings since Oct. 1 and assurance of back pay for federal workers.
Markey acknowledges the much-needed relief this legislation provides to those impacted by the government shutdown, but ultimately cannot support a bill that does not ensure health care is affordable for over 22 million Americans.
“Families in Massachusetts and across the country cannot afford to have their health care coverage double or triple in cost,” Markey said in a statement. “They will not be able to afford their housing, their grocery bills, their electricity bills, or other day-to-day needs if they have to spend tens of thousands of dollars more because of Republicans’ decision to kill critical Affordable Care Act tax credits.”
Health care costs spiking in state
In a press conference on Monday, Gov. Maura Healey said that if the premium subsides are not extended, 330,000 people in the commonwealth will see their premiums rise as much as $25,000 per household. Some residents are seeing a 400% increase in their monthly premiums, while others are seeing premiums match rent prices.
“I don’t know how Americans and people in mass are going be able to afford these budget-busting, skyrocketing healthcare costs,” Healey said. “Frankly, this is a disaster. It’s coming at a time that people can least afford it. This is the result of a decision that Trump and Republicans in Congress have made, putting their own agenda ahead of the needs of their constitutes.”
Audrey Morse Gasteier, executive director of Mass Health Connector, said she’s already heard from the 400,000 members who are worried, concerned and frustrated with health care costs next year. Many are leaving their doctors to enroll in lower-cost plans or taking a chance with higher out-of-pocket costs.
“Some are so shocked by an increase their household budget just can’t absorb, that they simply don’t know what to do and are waiting and hoping for the tax credits to be extended,” Gasteier said.
Healey urged President Trump and congressional Republicans to extend these health care tax credits. The state can help residents enroll in lower cost plans, but “no state can make up for this.”
“To all the Senate Republicans inclined to oppose a simple one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits when the vote is held in December, you do so at your political peril,” Markey said. “The American people will remember your vote at the ballot box.”
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.